marcanvsmarcaronTell them apart

Which to use

“marcan” and “marcaron” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,706
“marcan” frequency rank
#15,416
“marcaron” frequency rank
26122
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature marcan marcaron
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de marcar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de marcar.

Where the eye mixes marcan and marcaron

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. marcan runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against marcaron's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
marcan
8 ch
marcaron

Why the eye confuses marcan with marcaron

A purely visual mix-up. marcan ([ˈmaɾkãn]) and marcaron ([maɾˈkaɾõn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26122, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

marcan is recorded at frequency rank #10,706, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmaɾkãn]. marcaron is at rank #15,416, tagged as averb, pronounced [maɾˈkaɾõn].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 26122, this pair ranks #233,187 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of marcan vs marcaron

Shared letters: acmnr. Private to "marcan": -. Private to "marcaron": o.

"marcan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "marcaron" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • marcan ← amrcan · macran · maracn · marcann · marccan · marcna · marrcan · mmarcan
  • marcaron ← amrcaron · macraron · maracron · marcaorn · marcarno · marcaronn · marcarron · marccaron

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "marcan" for "marcaron" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmaɾkãn] versus [maɾˈkaɾõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "marcan" or "marcaron"?
"marcan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,706 in our Spanish list, against #15,416 for "marcaron". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "marcan" and "marcaron" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "marcan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "marcaron" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #233,187 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "marcan" and "marcaron" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maracas vs marcan". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #233,187 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list